1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to expandable food substrates, edible compositions and instant dessert preparations, as well as to the preparation of various confections therefrom, and, more especially, relates to those expandable foodstuff formulations and powdered substrates destined for the making of instant desserts therefrom, particularly those to be constituted from liquid milk.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been a desideratum to this art to prepare a food product in the form of a mousse, wherein both milk and acidic fruit juices would be present together. Such a product would have desirable dietetic properties. There are, however, certain inherent difficulties which arise when attempts are made to combine milk, which has a tendency to curdle, with an acidic agent. Another problem is the fact that in order to provide good organoleptic properties and to be accepted by consumers, the mousse must satisfy rather specific density requirements, typically between 0.3 and 0.45. A ligher mousse gives the sensation of "emptiness", while an excessively dense mousse likely is considered "too heavy" or too liquid. Finally, the resultant mousse must display the quality of durability.
And even though certain "instant" preparations for the confection of a mousse or other ready made dessert, whether frozen or unfrozen, are already commercially available, the same are not entirely satisfactory.
These preparations, called mixes, are characteristically in the form of a powder and it is only necessary to simply mix them with cold milk, the expansion or constitution thereof being effected by beating with a mechanical whisp.
Typically, the recipe for such mixes comprises the following: sugar, sucrose; a fatty material, most frequently of vegetable origin, e.g., soybean oil, corn oil, coconut oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, and the like; one or more food emulsifiers, such as, for example, the mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids or their esters, sodium 2-stearoyllactyllactate, polyoxyethylene sorbitan stearates and oleates, etc.; thickeners which most frequently consist of alginates or carragheenates; and various perfumes, aromas or scents, and colorants.
The inclusion of an emulsifier and of fatty material in a powder preparation of course mandates the conversion of such ingredients to powder form, with the most conventional method consisting of the spray-drying or atomization of an homogenized aqueous emulsion of a mixture of the emulsifier and the fatty material and either sodium caseinate or milk. Such base substrates or preparations, which shall hereinafter be designated the expandable bases are readily commercially available, thus enabling the manufacturer of the aforenoted food mixes to formulate same simply by mixing together the various commercially available powders, and hence facilely preparing any one of a number of instant food products.
But the use of an expandable base consisting of the emulsifier and the fatty material, on a proteinaceous milk substrate (sodium caseinate or milk) gives rise to a number of marked disadvantages. For example, it has been determined that the capacity of the base to expand declines with time. Furthermore, the base expands poorly in an acid pH, during the preparation of a mousse constituted from milk or water. This is a significant disadvantage, because no preparations comprising acid perfumes or aromas may be made (red fruit or lemon, for example), certain of such aromas being poorly compatible with milk.